White Robed Monks of St. Benedict

Semi-Plenary 1,2 Friday, October 22, 2010

SP1. Human Experience, Consciousness and the Universe

Mindless Sensationalism: A Quantum Framework for Consciousness. Don Page, Ph.D. (Researcher/Cosmologist) (University of Alberta)
The ideas of Sensible Quantum Mechanics are expressed in lay terms for philosophers of consciousness and others. A framework is proposed and explained for the " psycho-physical-parallelism' between conscious experiences and the mathematical structures of quantum physics (e.g., a set of quantum operators obeying some algebra, and a quantum state giving the expectation value of each operator). In particular, it is proposed that each set of possible conscious experiences has a measure given by the expectation value of a corresponding operator (a positive-operator-valued measure). Then one has a generalization of the Weak Anthropic Principle named the Conditional Aesthemic Principle: given that we are conscious beings, our conscious experiences are likely to be typical experiences in the set of all conscious experiences with its measure.

The Purpose-Guided Universe: Believing in Einstein, Darwin and God, BernardHaisch, Ph.D. (Astrophysicist/Author)
Astrophysicist George Ellis has written: "What is clear is that life, as we know it, would not be possible if thete were very small changes to either physics or the expanding universe that we see around us. There are many aspects of physics, which, if they were different, would prevent any life at all existing.... We are now realizing that the universe is a very extraordinary place, in the sense that it is fine tuned so that life will exist." Thete are two interpretations possible: (1) Our Universe is part of a multivetse containing vast numbers of universes which have an enormous range of properties; or (2) the laws of out Universe reflect some great intelligence. As astrophysicist Sir James Jeans wrote: "The Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine." In the latter view consciousness becomes the primary stuff of reality, not matter. Add to the mix that recent quantum physics experiments such as the measurement of the Bell inequality, the Leggett inequality, Wheeler delayed choice experiments and others point to the central role of consciousness in creating reality at the quantum level. In their book The Quantum Enigma, UC Santa Cruz physicists Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner write: "Accordingly, before a look collapses a widely spread-out wavefiinction to the particular place where the atom is found, the atom did not exist there prior to the look. The look brought about the atom's existence at that particular place - for everyone." If we factor in the transcendent experiences of men and women throughout history as tentative evidence, it begins to look more likely that the creation of the Universe in the Big Bang happened for a purpose, rather than by chance. I speculate on what that purpose might be, including the necessary central role of Darwinian evolution.

Consciousness in Scientific Paradigms: From Conquest to Consortium. Elisabet Sahtouris, PhD, (Evolutionary Biologist, Author)
In writing Biology Revisioned, Willis Harman and I posed the question: How would biology, and consequently society, change if consciousness were not a late emergent product of material evolution, but rather the very source of the material world itself? These two possibilities are clearly antithetical: the first a foundational assumption of western science; the second a foundational assumption of Vedic science, considered invalid by the officialdom of western science, but nevertheless adopted by increasing numbers of western scientists in a 180 turn. Those making the turn regarded it as a growing Kuhnian paradigm shift in which the assumption of consciousness as fundamental would ultimately replace the the assumption of consciousness as emergent. Dr. Sahtouris now proposes that we recognize such assumptions as the unprovable cultural beliefs on which science necessarily rests and that we build a consortium of sciences with equal validity and respect on publicly acknowledged but culturally diverse assumptions. This solution, rather than the conquest of one paradigm by another, represents mature collaboration and a more fruitful division of labor in solving global problems.

SP 2. Dance Of Oneness

Duality/Non-Duality–The Next Level of Human Consciousness. Loibon - OlDoinyo Laetoli Le Baaba, Mhes.D (Metaphysician, yogi, mystic, shaman)
In our western/occidental society, we have a strong tendency to see and think of things in the context of them being separate and unconnected, departmentalized. We have a strong tendency to view things from a perspective of I verses you, us verses them, or this verses that, in a linear and empirical either-or context.
We also have a natural but strong tendency to view things, believe, and live our lives according to a more personal or "egotistical" perspective. We proudly call this perspective our "Individualism," "Freedom," or "Personal Rights." Hence, the occidental mind is very comfortable with, and accustomed to 'DUALISTIC' values as being the basis by which we define ourselves, live, and establish our concepts and precepts of REALITY, as being the result of what is familiar, known, and/or understood by most.
The crux of the problem rests in the fundamentals of the Western/Occidental thinking process. Positivism and Empiricism are the heart of Anglo-American/Anglo-Saxon (Occidental peoples) thinking. The positivist mind dislikes, refuses to accept or understand, and in fact attempts to refute, 'abstract theorizing,' and any serious or real investigations into first and final cause (i.e., karma). A positivist way of thinking is opposed to a true 'deductive' method of thought, and by this, it is rather a superficial 'inductive' way of thinking - preferring to strictly ascribe all knowledge to the result of scientific, experiential, linear or empirical evidence. Positivist thinking is characterized by a general dislike of theorizing and (abstract) systematic thinking in favour of pragmatism, which is all stemming from a form of dualisric and separative thinking.
From its ancient, much older knowledge and experiential understandings of life, Eastern religion, philosophy, and primitive or indigenous peoples teachings, there is "No Duality" and all perceived existence or reality is actually but the multiple expressions or manifestations of the ONE SPIRITUAL - ANCESTOR REALITY. According to the different and particular doctrine or belief system, this One Reality is identified in terms of being a "Theistic" Being (God); "Nature;" or a (non theistic) "Universal Principal;" the latter of which is scientifically and metaphysically believed and deemed to be inclusive and representative of all the others. It is through these multiple and various concepts of Reality that religion and philosophy have established various doctrines and schools of belief concerning the nature of Reality, or Absolute Existence.

Clear Seeing and Deep Relaxation at Play. Pamela Wilson. (Nondual Teacher)
All the wisdom, compassion and love is within, as formless pure potentiality colored with human flavors. How delightfully the known veils the divine! The only constant is this pure intelligence that we are. So we bring mischief to mischief with inner satsang, a playful homeopathy that liberates the appearance of form and function, uncontaining all within. This allows for the deep Rest that is to be lived - for freedom is nothing but deep relaxation and clarity. No time is required to return everything to its true nature, as it is all just pretending to be odier. When we see into the heart of everything, we can truly enjoy! Naturalness is vivid and joyful, rooted and vast, unshakeable.

A Cellular Dance Of Oneness Being Consciouness Fully Embodied. Florian Schlosser. (Nondual Teacher)
"In allowing the human body to be free and to play innocently, without interference, there is the experience of Oneness. There is no conflict and no separation. Being held by awareness it is love in its purest form." Who we are is consciousness - already free, impersonal, ever-present. This essential realization, which is commonly addressed as self-realization, is nothing more than a shift of the focus of attention. Attention shifts from the content of experience towards that, which is already aware of any experience. Eventhough it appears as if this realization is happening to an ,1', it is in fact attention recognising consciousness as its source and true nature. Yet within the human experience, this core recognition is not automatically a synonym for the consistent realisation of Freedom and Oneness. Since the human experience belongs to the body only, we inevitably need to re-integrate the human form in consciousness. Only then there is a genuine experience of BEING ONE. The frill beauty of'Non-Duality' can blossom, if there is the willingness to fully embody and be alive. With the descent of consciousness into the human form, everything is met which has troubled mankind ever since the beginning of time. The fundamental difference is that this is not experienced from an exclusive ,sense of I', but from the inclusive perspective of consciousness itself.